Tips for cruising in high style

River cruising through Europe can bring vacationers to a wide variety of historic locations.Photo by
Jon Collier

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Denis Lim, president of Vancouver’s Cruise Experts Travel, and chief operating officer Blaine Lambert to learn about some of the trends in cruising they see for 2013, and why brick-and-mortar travel agencies still remain relevant, even necessary, in this digital age.

FTDC: What are some of the benefits to booking with an agency as opposed to directly booking with the cruise line or through an Internet re-seller?

Denis: Well, the first reason is service. When you deal with an agency you have your own friendly agent. All our agents are well trained and customer service focused. They are motivated to match you with your ideal cruise vacation.

If you deal directly with a cruise line or Internet reseller, each time you contact them you get assigned randomly to one of their call centre staff. There is not the same opportunity to get to know you and what is important to you on your vacation.

Our cruise experts travel constantly on their vacations. They actually cruise on the ships that they sell cruises on and visit exotic ports of call so they can recommend restaurants, hotels or “must see” sights to their clients.

FTDC: What does Cruise Experts Travel offer that others may not?

Denis: We are true experts in cruising. Since we specialize in vacations around cruises our agents really know their cruise lines, the ships and the itineraries they sail.

Anyone can book a cruise but, using one of our experts, we will ensure we put our client into that perfect stateroom and not the one under the pool deck or the promenade deck where people are up late having fun.

We are unique in that we have our own shore excursion division with staff that specialize in planning out those shoreside activities. As we have our own contracts with these shore excursion operators we can offer a better quality experience often at a lower price than booking with the cruise line directly.

FTDC: There is an interesting mix of new ships coming online next year that includes both megaliners like Norwegian Breakaway and smaller ships like Compagnie du Ponant’s sleek Le Soleal. Is there a reason to choose one over the other?

Denis: Ships are getting larger with more incredible on-board amenities to “wow” their guests.

The new breed of super liners in service today offer a vast choice of accommodations to fit every budget, a host of on-board activities to satisfy all ages and multiple restaurants on-board so cruisers never get tired of the cuisine. These super liners are truly large floating resorts that move from port to port.

But many guests favour a more intimate vacation experience and may prefer a smaller ship accommodating several hundred pampered guests versus thousands on the super liners.

These smaller ships may lack the “wow” factors of their larger sisters but can, instead, offer a higher standard of food and service.

FTDC: You deal with cruise bookings every day. What are some of the trends you’re seeing?

Denis: River cruising in Europe is huge.

Cruise packages including pre- or post-hotel stays with included air are popular, as many travellers prefer an all-inclusive vacation.

Cruises to exotic destinations like South America, Asia and Australia/New Zealand are growing in popularity as prices go down and more and more baby boomers are retiring and have the time and money to spend on themselves.

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Vancouver Flyers

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